Bosses at Nuneaton’s George Eliot Hospital say “significant improvements” have already been made to tackle its death rate problem.

NHS managers have hit back after a new report named the trust which runs the hospital among those nationally with a higher than expected death rate.

The trust is already under the national spotlight over the issue.

Earlier this year it was one of 11 trusts placed in special measures as part of the national Keogh Review into higher than expected mortality rates.

Now the newly-released guide from health statistics firm Dr Foster says George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust is one of 16 hospital trusts showing higher than expected death rates among patients in hospital, down from 20 the previous year.

Kevin McGee, chief executive of George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, argues that taking into account the measurement used by the Department of Health, the Standardised Hospital Mortality Indicator, the trust is no longer considered a so-called outlier - a service which might be failing to deliver expected standards for patients.

He also said there are improvements in the other measurement of mortality, the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio.

Kevin McGee

He said: “The data included in the Dr Foster Guide is historic, relating to the 2012/13 financial year.

“The trust is pleased to report that since then the trust has made significant improvements to its mortality rates and is no longer considered an outlier for its SHMI or HSMR.

“Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of these improvements is that they represent work we did prior to the Keogh Review.

“This will mean that with the work following this review and the additional support put in place we would expect to see even more improvements in the coming months.”

The indicators used by Dr Foster included a standard measure of in-hospital deaths, deaths within 30 days of the patient leaving hospital, deaths after surgery and deaths among people with low-risk conditions who would normally survive.

According to Dr Foster, the number of people who died in hospital in England and Wales in 2012/13 was higher than the previous year but lower than 2010/11.

Dr Foster director of research, Roger Taylor, said: “Hospital level mortality indicators can provide vital insights into where problems are worst. They also help us to monitor the extent to which outcomes for patients are improving. ”